Resentment
by smallsteps32
Summary: Roski: The battle is over, Loki has been captured by SHIELD. If that wasn't enough punishment, now an old friend has followed him into his universe, and she's furious. (Terrible summary, but I'm only good at long verbose descriptions)


**Disclaimer: I own neither the Marvel Universe, nor the Whoverse. That all belongs to the BBC and Marvel Studios.**

**Resentment**

As Rose watched the television screen held behind the glass window of the shop, blaring out the latest news from New York, she bit back her dismay. Apparently a 'wormhole' had opened in the sky, and thousands of creatures had poured from its mouth, reigning terror onto the city. It was over now, but that didn't stop the pang of horror that she felt when they camera panned over the face of a familiar leather clad man standing above the rest. Rose had become so preoccupied with the Dimension Cannon, chasing after the Doctor and following Donna around the _other_ other universe, that she had almost driven thoughts of Loki from her mind; it was by a stroke of bad steering that she had ended up in his universe. Along with the pain of seeing that her leaving had led him down a tremendously _wrong_ path, and the sadness at seeing what he was really capable of, two words rang above the rest of Rose's mind: _YOU IDIOT!_

The cannon wasn't technically supposed to be used for everyday teleportation, but Rose found herself relishing the burst of anger that all but eradicated the grief, and she figured that she could bend the rules just this once. As she pushed all the right buttons, she squeezed her eyes tightly shut and thought about everything she was going to do to Loki when she got her hands on him.

Her knees buckled as something thinner yet sturdier than concrete appeared below her feet. There was an audibly restrained gasp that sounded very familiar, and a rustling, as if someone had tried to rise but thought better of it and dropped back into their seat. As Rose's eyes cracked open, she discovered that she was inside what looked like a steel box; _more likely a prison cell_ the part of her mind that so often sounded like the Doctor chimed.

"Rose?"

It was asked so cautiously, as if he couldn't quite believe that she was there, that for a moment Rose was thrown back to the times they had spent in Pete's World, getting to know each other after he had fallen to Earth. With that brought the same anger and frustration that had brought her here; oddly enough, she thought, the same anger and frustration she had felt in those first few months as she worked out the kinks in his attitude. Finally, Rose turned her eyes towards the forlorn shape that sat against the back of the cell.

Loki was clad in the same black outfit he had been when they had first met, and like then, it was torn and bloody. Rose fought a wave of worry as she saw that his face, although curious and pale with disbelief, was in the same state. His hands were shackled together, and he sat in the ever present regal slump that had both annoyed and aroused her to no end.

"You couldn't have just stayed at home and waited for us to come back!" Rose snapped, finding fury easier than pity, "NO, because you're an IDIOT! What the HELL did you think you were doin'?"

The glimmer of hope that has lit his face dropped instantly and was replaced by the familiar haughtiness that he would always adopt when she called him up on something. Rose again had to bite back the guilt in favour of mechanically noting the other emotion in his eyes. Betrayal? Probably. No…it was something else that had also always been there, but she wasn't sure what. It only ever disappeared when he smiled at her in that charming way he did.

No; Rose shook her head, folding her arms tightly around herself as she waited for an answer. Loki cocked his head to the side, glaring petulantly up at her.

"Why would I wait?" he finally drawled, schooling his features so that no unnecessary emotions broke through, "To welcome you and your _Doctor,_" he spat, "back to _our_ humble abode?"

"So you thought you'd use one of the _failed_ cannons and then trash New York?" Rose demanded, feeling a surge of an unidentifiable emotion that wasn't hatred or anger, but wasn't sadness either; she realised as she spoke that it was the one reflected in Loki's eyes as well, "Was all that nice guy, lovable stuff towards the end just a lie?"

"No more a lie than your admittance to loving me, and yet still running after a man that left you in a different world while he carried on with his life with some other women!"

"Yeah well, you never were the Doctor!" Rose hissed furiously, instantly regretting it. That feeling had reared its head again, making the small rational part of her duck away at the ugliness of it. She immediately felt guilty as Loki's lower lip trembled, and the same emotion sprang up behind his far too emotive green eyes as he glared coldly back at her. She refused to say anything, choosing instead to steady her frantic breathing without taking her eyes off of him. She had missed him so much, but he would never be able to replace the Doctor, especially after the stunt he had just pulled.

Then suddenly she realised what it was; the unknown emotion that had played the backing track to their time together. Resentment. Rose may have been charmed, loved him even, let him love her, but he wasn't her Doctor, he wasn't kind and sweet and good. Except he was. But he wasn't. And now she knew what it was it became even more pronounced in his glare; she couldn't even begin to fathom why he resented her, but it was probably because she was human, because he missed home, because she left…any myriad of reasons. Resentment then; their entire relationship was laced with it, like cyanide ruining even the sweetest of wines. Jackie's voice floated through her mind, recalling all the advice she had ever given about the wrong kinds of relationships. Rose knew she had to walk away now, no matter what her feelings towards Loki.

"And it wasn't entire my idea."

Rose was ripped from her reverie by Loki's bitter exclamation; she was reminded so sharply of a young child telling their parents that it most absolutely wasn't their fault that Mickey's bike had been clamped by the police.

"How do you mean?" she asked tentatively; she didn't want to be here anymore. The anger had faded, leaving only guilt and the tatters of a previously sound partnership drifting lazily in the air between them. However, she never could deny the curiosity, a habit fattened by proximity to the Doctor.

"As you pointed out, the cannon I used wasn't ready." Loki scowled, refusing to meet her eyes and choosing instead to inspect a drab corner of the ceiling, "I didn't end up on Midgard. I ended up on some god forsaken rock, which, to my admittedly bad luck, had already been claimed."

"You mean they made you do it?" Rose felt her eyes widen in shock and she had to fight the impulse to rush over to him; Loki didn't look as if he'd appreciate it. His own emerald eyes clouded over as if haunted.

"Well, as my dear brother is so willing to point out to anyone that will listen, I wasn't in my right mind." He muttered detachedly, before his piercing gaze landed once again on Rose, "That's not to say I wouldn't have done a fantastic job of running this pitiful planet if you humans had just done as you were told for once."

Rose rolled her eyes, the anger resurfacing. God, she had missed him so much; his damnable attitude was just one of the things she missed. The seeming self-delusion was new.

"And where did this wedge of wisdom come from?" she asked, smirking as Loki visibly bit back a snarl.

"They showed me things…" Loki hissed, and the worry flooded back as Rose finally realised quite how much damage had been done since she'd last seen him, "All the dark corners that you tried so hard to light, all the terrible things that people all over the universe do to each other. I could be a king, I am a king…I knew they would kill me eventually, but why not have a little fun proving myself the better in the meantime?"

Loki smirked as he let out a stilted laugh, but Rose actually stepped forward to sit beside him as his expression fell and he closed his eyes, dropping his head into his hands. It killed her to see him so defeated. Resentment or no, and there was definitely a lot there, only intensified by the fact that her efforts had had no impact on his life view, she still loved him.

"What's going to happen to you now?" she asked quietly, mourning the fact that there was nothing she could do. Loki glanced up from his hands, looking more at ease than before and far too similar to when he would slump around her house in Pete's world.

"Asgardian punishment I suppose. It's up to the Allfather." He muttered, running his hands exhaustedly over his face before locking his gaze onto Rose's face and saying in a voice far too innocent to be his, "I thought for a moment you had come to save me."

The hand that Rose had been about to place soothingly on his knee froze in the air as another icy shard of guilt and pain drove itself deeper into Rose's heart. Loki's eyes were piercing into hers, like a silent scream, begging her to take him away from there, to take his hand and retreat back to their understated home where the biggest danger was food poisoning, as neither of them were particularly good cooks.

"I'm so sorry Loki," Rose whispered, praying that he wouldn't hate her, even after everything else that had happened, "I can't do that; you know I can't."

Loki didn't reply, but it became clear that he had been clinging onto some kind of hope, as the light that was barely visible in his complexion evaporated. He wrapped his arms around one of his knees and turned so that he was facing away from Rose, blocking her from view and resigning himself to misery alone. Rose felt her heart break all over again, but her resolve didn't falter.

"You'll get to go home." She reasoned, wishing that she didn't sound so frantic, "It'll be hard for a while, but they're your family, things'll get better after a while."

Loki didn't respond, but stared coldly at the wall. The clattering of boots on steel just outside the door alerted Rose to the fact that she had to leave. If she didn't go now, she might not be able to make herself. She didn't want to have to choose, she realised. The resentment was still there, an ever present nag in the back of her mind as her feelings for Loki put her in a position where no matter what she did, she'd feel as if she'd wronged someone. The soldiers that were about to arrest her gave Rose the kick she needed.

"I'm going now." Rose said sadly, waiting a few seconds longer than she should have for a reply, "Goodbye Loki."

Loki raised his head by a fraction, locking eyes with her one last time, his own indecipherable.

"Goodbye Rose." He breathed emotionlessly. As the door opened, Rose quickly used the cannon, taking in one last glimpse of her friend and hating herself for leaving him, resenting him for making her feel like that.

"Did you want something?" Loki inquired petulantly, the epitome of manners, shaking his shackled wrists at the guards that were scanning the inside of the cell with bewilderment.

**AN: This was the first real piece of fanfic I wrote, so, may not be 100%. **


End file.
